ASUS ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING LGA1151 DDR4 DP HDMI DVI M.2 ATX Motherboard with onboard AC Wifi and USB 3.1

This is one hell of a motherboard for anyone looking to build a SFF Z270 based PC. It was quite a joy to build this on a Node 202 case. If you would like to see the build, go here > https://pcpartpicker.com/b/WGGG3CThis was fun to build. I have been delaying building an iTX PC based for gaming for quite sometime since the reliability and performance/features compromise did no justify it. But in the past 2 years or so the technology has greatly improved and now iTX motherboards are on par with most desktop ATX counterparts. The ASUS Z270i iTX board which I have used is in fact better in direct benchmarks amongst a few Z270 boards as reviewed by a few tech sites around. This board is very high quality and great thoughtful design targeted for iTX/SFF cases. I'm using an M.2 drive and the heatsink is a welcome addition and also the on board audio is astonishingly VERY good. I've had this motherboard for over the a month and now I feel I can give a better hands on overall experience so far:PROs---------> Generally well thought out design and placement of fan headers> Good VRM implementation> Great on board audio performance> Very detailed and intuitive BIOS interface> Great performance and overclocking potential> Out of the box support for XMP based 3000Mhz (and beyond) DDR4 memory> Great value for money considering the feature set and other mini ITX motherboards of similar calibreCONs *mostly nit-pickings here*---------> DVD for installation software and driver - its 2017 and you would wonder why manufacturers still prefer DVDs? especially for mini ITX motherboards where the target audience are SFF builders, they would not have imagined a DVD drive even in their dreams to consider it on their system> Out of the box WIFI driver can be problematic (windows 10)> VRM design is good but not great as their last gen, Z170 impact ITX> Like me, if you download the drivers from ASUS website, some software and drivers such as Suite utilities can be a pain to installWell most of the CONs for a advance user like me are really nit-picks but I can understand if these may be a serious concern for others. Wifi related issues can be solved with their latest drivers, I would also like to suggest people is to experiment with different channels especially if they are using 5.0ghz. Most of the wifi dropouts can be solved moving into the least occupied channel.For this price point I do not see any other Z270 iTX motherboard having VRM design better than this STRIX one so ofcourse Impact is still held in high regard over here and also it was a more expensive motherboard than the normal 'i' series of last gen.If you do download ASUS utilities software from website on a windows 10 PC, make sure the files are unblocked which can be done through file attributes properties

It's difficult to find problems with parts when building a new PC and making a significant upgrade with the new build. This motherboard is so far in advance of what I used to have it's actually funny. Toss in the built-in WIFI and the RGB lighting options and it simply makes me smile.I'll be honest. I bought this board for two reasons:#1, it offered RGB lighting options. I'm a sucker for lights in a PC, and it started over a decade ago with cold cathode tubes in a time when cases weren't readily available with windows in them. I had to take a dremel to my own case and put my own window in it! The RGB options mean I don't have to choose a single color light, and I can change whenever I feel like it. So happy with this feature, and it's very easy to change.#2, mini ITX. I wanted to build a small PC that would take up less space on my desk. I game a bit, but I've never bothered with dual GPU's and loads of other features in my computers. This was quite simply among the best boards available with RGB lighting in a mini ITX size. The performance of it and the over-clocking potential just means I'm ready to go over the next few years should I ever feel the need to upgrade the CPU.The built-in WIFI works very well. I didn't need to install the included antenna to get a pretty strong signal. RAM installs easily. There is space for M.2 SSD's if you want them. I went with a standard SATA SSD, but it's nice to know the option is there. There is a header for USB3.1, but it's using a unique connector which I believe is not yet defined as a global standard. Good luck finding a cable / connector to fit it right now, but it'll be there for you in the future.The USB item does bring up my only complaint, but it was easily solved. There is ONE other USB header on the board. It is USB3.0. It is the old / standard style connector. It is backward compatible to USB2.0. I needed to connect the front case USB and also my NZXT Kraken liquid cooler. I was required to purchase a USB splitter / Y-cable in order to connect both items. Not a big deal, but slightly annoying not realizing this in the first place.